A recent article in the Journal News discusses the sale of the Yonkers Polish Community Center to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As the author has enjoyed many events at this Center, and will certainly miss attending events if the center is sold, this article discusses the possible legal remedies when one of the parties to a real estate contract will not complete the transaction.
In the situation discussed in the article, the buyer has given the seller a downpayment in the amount of $120,000.00. Although we are not familiar with the specific facts of this transaction, a downpayment is generally held in escrow by the seller’s attorney until the sale closes or the transaction is cancelled because the purchaser could not obtain a loan commitment, or for another contractual reason.
There may be certain situations in which a seller wishes to transfer title to a property, but encounters legal difficulties in doing so. For example, a Religious Corporation, such as a Church or Synagogue, may seek to sell certain property. This subject was addressed in a previous blog post. Such a transaction must be approved by the New York State Attorney General. In addition, our firm has encountered situations where certain congregants challenge the decision to purchase or sell certain Church or Synagogue property in New York Supreme Court.
Real estate transactions commonly involve the inclusion of title insurance policies. For the purposes of this blog post, we will be discussing title insurance obtained when a person purchases a house. Title insurance is a unique type of insurance, in that the events that are to be covered have already occurred. For instance, an automobile policy covers loss resulting from an accident that could happen after the policy is bound. On the other hand, title insurance covers acts that have already happened but not discovered prior to closing, such as a fraudulent deed in the chain of title.
Our firm often fields inquiries from clients regarding residential lease situations. One common question relates to the right to renew an existing lease. This blog post will explain certain conditions which may apply to the renewal of a lease after it expires. 
Our readers who follow politics know that members of Congress have battled in recent years with respect to revisions to the tax law. Specifically, estate, gift, and income taxes have been subject to adjustments. The purpose of this blog post is not to describe the 
Bundled services have commonly been offered to purchasers of real estate in New York. For example, a real estate broker, wishing to enhance an affiliated title insurance company, has a program that encourages attorneys to refer their title business to the title company. A title agent provides tax reduction services as a benefit to its title customers. Mortgage providers may have an affiliation with a real estate broker. Purchasers may consider bundled services to be convenient and beneficial. They may be unfamiliar with the community in which they are purchasing or new to the process, giving them the tendency to trust recommendations of professionals that they have already selected. However, in some cases, bundled services predominantly benefit those entities to which the referral is made and do not necessarily result in better or less expensive service for the customer.
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We are pleased to announce that as of April 15, 2013, the law firm of 
Our firm often interacts with other professionals, such as doctors, architects, and accountants, in the course of our practice. This can happen in several ways. The first is when such services are needed by our clients in the course of litigation. For example, an architect may be needed to evaluate whether a property can be divided in separate parcels in a partition action. Courts will consider this separation to be the preferred remedy, so the expertise of an architect is often needed to provide their professional judgment on whether the property can be subdivided.